Some final statistics

Total days of trip:  57
Riding days:  39
Total miles:  1873
Average speed:  7.36 mph
Average miles per day riding:  48.01
Fastest speed:  39.3 mph
Most miles in one day:  93.12 (Shiprock NM to Gallup, NM)
Least miles in one day:  22.6 (Missoula, MT to Florence, MT)
Total riding/walking time:  254 hours 34 minutes
Average riding/walking time per day:  6 hours 32 minutes
Average ascent per day  2105 feet
Highest ascent in one day:  4356 feet (From 32 miles south of Rock Springs, WY on US 191 to                 Flaming Gorge Lodge)
Least ascent in one day:  224 feet (From Dillon, MT to Sheridan, MT)
Revolutions of bicycle tires: 1,432,915
Revolutions of BOB trailer tire:  2,372,718

Geronimo Surrender Monument to Mexico border at Douglas, AZ

 Rise and shine for the last day 

 Ready to roll down the road

 Rest stop

 Grandson Weston Clouse

 Picture taken on this ride

 Picture taken at same location on 2006 ride from Cortez, CO to Mexico ride

 Summer monsoons have made the desert green

 Son Russ and his wife Shelle

 This hill is covered with Ocotillo trees

 Looking down the road to Douglas

 Everyone at the finish line.  Port of Entry into Mexico is in the background  

 Youngest member of the family present, great-granddaughter Olive Jones, just had to sit on the bicycle seat

 Me and friend Paul Champion.  Paul came up with the idea to ride the last day with me

Me with grandchildren Roxanne and Gavin Wadsworth

July 27, 2013 Saturday, Day 39 riding, Day 57 of trip.

Fourteen members of my family and two friends came to ride and/or accompany me to the finish of my trek forty miles away, making this a most memorable and happy day.  My two friends are Paul and Dorothy Champion.  Paul is responsible for coming up with the idea of joining me and riding the last forty miles together to my destination.

I thought it was a unique idea and called by eldest son Curtis and invited him and any other family members that would like to participate in that.  He took it from there.

Well, to my great surprise and pleasure fourteen members of my family showed up, in addition to Paul and Dorothy Champion.

Arriving Friday night and providing the Bar-B-Que dinner were sons Curtis and Scott Clouse, son-in-law Wayne Smith, and grandsons Weston Clouse and Brigg Smith.

Joining us Saturday morning was Curtis' wife Denise, son Russell Clouse and his wife Shelle, daughter Susan Wadsworth, grandsons Redden Clouse, Daxten Clouse, and Gavin Wadsworth, granddaughter Roxanne Wadsworth, and great-granddaughter Olive Jones.

My trek was a fantastic experience.  I give special thanks to those good people who provided lodging along the way:  Roger DiBrito in Florence, MT, Murlene Cleverly and her son Kindle in Dillon, MT,  Keith and Gayle Butler in Cedaredge, CO, Vivian Tekala in Zuni, NM, John and Nyla Payne in Reserve, NM, and Lloyd and Carolyn Payne in Lordsburg, NM.

My appreciation goes out to my family for their support and help, to Curtis and Sheldon for flying me to my starting point, to Sheldon, Auburn, and Terry Ann for their help in creating this blog and making the posts.

A very special thanks to my wife Joyce who suggested that I needed to have a "man" vacation, to just do something that I wanted to do for however long it took, and for her support.  Also, thanks to my step-grandaughter, Sara Brown, for being such a big help and support to her grandmother in my absence.

And thanks to my many friends who followed me on my journey by checking in on this blog site.

And especially a big thanks to all  those who offered prayers for my safety, for I truly was protected and blessed.

Lordsburg to Geronimo Surrender Monument

 Landscape

 Lancscape

 Landscape

 Landscape

 Looking thru a cut into the San Simone Valley

 Hill in Granite Pass

 Huge  Gas Compressor being transported from Denver to Tijuana, Mexico

 This compressor is as wide as the highway, almost

 Crew that is transporting the compressor

 The Geronimo Surrender Monument

 The start of a beautiful series of sunset scenes

 Another in the series of scenes

 Part of my family arrives to prepare a steak dinner on the last night of my trek

 Steaks and a slice of fresh pineapple being grilled

My son Curtis and grandson Weston

July 26, 2013 Friday, Day 38 riding, Day 56 of trip.

Had to ride 17 miles on the I-10 Freeway from Lordsburg to the Road Forks Exit.  Safe ride as the emergency lane was wide and not a lot of trash and debris on it.

Two dogs chased me as I turned onto SR 80 at Road Forks and were barking like they wanted a piece of my leg.  But I made friends with them when I turned in under an abandoned gas station canopy and ate some chicken wings and gave them the bones.

A few miles before I got to Rodeo, NM a huge transport trailer was parked alongside the road.  It was loaded with a gas compressor bound for Tijuana, Mexico from Denver, CO.  This compressor keeps gas flowing thru a pipe line.  The crew transporting it was very friendly and they asked me about what I was doing and I was asking them about what they were doing.  More than 110 tires support this total load of trailer and diesels.  While I was at the Cafe in Rodeo the crew came in for lunch and sat down with me and we talked some more.  I rode on to the monument and about 10 minutes later they came down the highway escorted by four highway patrol cars clearing traffic off the road so they could pass.  It was something to watch.

While waiting for some of my family to arrive and cook dinner I watched a fantastic sunset.

My son Curtis, son Scott and his son Weston, son in law Wayne Smith and his son Brigg arrived about 7:30.  Then we enjoyed a delicious  steak dinner with pasta salad, fruit, and assorted soft drinks.  Awesome!!!

Then a good nights sleep in a cool cloudy night.

Day in Lordsburg, nm

 Roger and Lloyd Payne putting up a steel crossbeam for the Family Pavilion across the street from the church house

 Me tightening the bolts on the steel rafters for the Family Pavilion

Overlooking Lordsburg from a knoll just outside town.  It was lightly raining 

July 25, 2013  Thursday, Did not ride today.  Day 55 of trip.

Caught up on blog.

Roger Payne then took me on a tour around Lordsburg and outside of town in the foothills where there were several old abandoned mine shafts and the ghost town of Shakespeare.

When Lloyd got home from helping at the Gila Valley Temple we went to the Family Pavilion site across the street from the church house and put some cross beams and assembled the steel pieces for the rafters.  This will be a family picnic are for the community.  It will include a horseshoe pitching area and a sand volleyball court.  Any group will be able to reserve and use it.

I stayed the two nights in Lordsburg at Lloyds home about ten miles outside of town.  We talked a lot about the bike riders riding in the Great Divide Ride.  This is a race from Banff, Canada to Antelope Wells, NM.  It is a hard grueling race down the Great Divide, or as near as they can get to it.  About one-third of them drop out because of injuries or they discover that it's not for them.  Riding in that race is NOT on my bucket list.

Silver City to Lordsburg

 Rest stop

 Cute house that caught my eye

 The last continental divide crossing

 Landscape

 Fifteen mile downhill ride to Lordsburg

 Those mountains are where I was an hour ago

 LDS chapel in Lordsburg

 Potluck dinner I rode into as they were celebrating Pioneer Day at the church

Me and Dan Bennett.  Met him at the potluck dinner.  Dan is an avid cyclist.  He does the racing circuit

July 24, 2013 Wednesday, Day 37 riding, Day 54 of trip.

Long climb out of Silver City then rolling hills favoring and uphill flavor to the continental divide.  From there it was downhill all the way to Lordsburg.  

I called Lloyd Payne, brother of John Payne in Reserve, and he told me to ride on over to the church for the potluck dinner.  When he introduced me to people there he told them I had ridden all the way from Canada just to be at the dinner.  Anyway, it was good timing and good food. 

Glenwood to Silver City, NM

 Double entry

 Another wash running after a cloudburst

 Landscape

 A dry wash waiting for the rain to fall

 Landscape

 Another dry wash

 Rain in progress

 Intermittent stream.  No fish here

Ranch headquarters

July 23, 2013 Tuesday, Day 36 riding, Day 53 of trip.

Was going to start riding at 7 am but I forgot to recharge my Garmin (speedometer).  Started riding at 9 am.  Didn't get to Silver City until 9:30 pm.  

It started raining about 3 pm real hard for about 30 minutes then it let up and drizzled off and on the rest of the way into Silver City.  The rain made the ride very nice and comfortable.  Temperature dropped to around 70 degrees.

About 5:30 the rain let up for a while and I stopped to have a snack.  I sat down on the edge of the asphalt and was eating and admiring the scenery in front of me, smelling the cool fresh air from the rain and thinking how lucky I am to be able to make this journey.